Why do children need breastmilk?

With childbirth comes lots of responsibilities and the ability to sacrifice lots of things, one of those things is to breastfeed the baby. Back in the day, an African woman would gladly breastfeed her child without thinking about any form of possible consequence or anything that would come out of it, but a modern-day woman would have different thoughts about the changes that would happen to her body before she does anything that would jeopardize the wonderful shape.

Breastfeeding is extremely important for both the child and mother and while we may try to shy away from the things we do not know, there are things we should know that would help us make a more informed decision. Breastfeeding is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), that the act of breastfeeding should be carried out until the child is 2 years old or even older, what do you think could inspire WHO to make such recommendations, well I think there would be so much of benefit for both mother and child in the process of breastfeeding, hence the recommendation by the great WHO.

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Great breastfeeding benefits for both mother and child.

Proper nutrition for the baby: Breast milk actually contains every form of nutrient needed for the baby to function, especially for the first six(6) months after childbirth. In reality, the milk composition changes according to the need of the baby, this change is constant the more during the first few months of the baby's existence.

The first few days after childbirth, the breast naturally produces a thick and yellowish fluid, this produced fluid is called colostrum.
Colostrum is highly nutritious, and it contains a great amount of antibodies, these antibodies are proteins, and they are really great at fighting bacteria and infections. It also fosters growth and boosts health in infants and newborn animals. 1

Reduction of disease impact: Mothers these days are advised to give their kids exclusive breastfeeding, this may definitely reduce the possibility of the baby getting ill. Here are some of the diseases that can be evicted with exclusive breastfeeding.

• Respiratory tract infections: Breastfeeding could protect the baby against different forms of gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses.

• Gut infections: With breastfeeding, gut infection is reduced in children.

• Allergic diseases: With breastfeeding, there is a reduced possibility of having allergic diseases like eczema, asthma and even atopic dermatitis.

• Diabetes: Breastfeeding is associated with the reduced chances of developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

• Intestinal damage to the tissue: Children who are feed with breast milk have a lower chance of having necrotizing enterocolitis

Bowel disorder: Babies, whose mother properly breastfed, have a lower chance of have trouble with bowel movement.

Mother's can lose weight through breastfeeding: There is a great chance of some women gaining weight whilst breastfeeding, but a greater percentage of women who breastfeed actually lose weight in a stress-free manner and this is because, the process of breastfeeding helps burn calories.

Uterus contraction: During the period of pregnancy, the uterus grows tremendously, it grows from the usual size of a pear to filling the entire abdomen region. After the process of childbirth, the uterus then goes through the process of involution, this process helps the uterus to normalize in size. Oxytocin, is a hormone that increases all through the entire pregnancy journey, it helps drive the entire pregnancy process.

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During the process of labor, the body secrets a lot of oxytocins, this is to enable a smooth ride of the baby delivered and to also help reduce bleeding. These hormones increase during the breastfeeding process, it helps the process of uterine contractions, it also helps to reduce bleeding, this will make it more easy and convenient. According to constant studies, women who breastfeed their children, usually have a lower blood loss, until devil or a faster involution of the Uterus.

Producing smarter kids: According to research, children with natural breast milk tend to become more intelligent than the children without the baby food. The difference between the breast milk and other options of baby food/feed could be; the feeling of the touch, regular eye contact and intimacy, could increase the bond between mother and the child and even a better level of smartness.

Consists of important antibodies
Breast milk is composed of great antibodies that help the body of the baby fight against bacteria and virus, in actual sense, virus and bacteria is really prominent at the tender stage of childbirth. When the body is exposed to bacteria and virus, it produces antibodies to help combat the effect of the bacteria and virus, these antibodies have their effect on the produced milk and of course protect the baby from the effect of bacteria and virus.

Healthy weight in babies: Breastfeeding actually helps prevent obesity in babies. According to the study, feeding a child for a period longer than 4 months, goes a log way to reduce obesity in children, this is because, babies who have been breastfed, contain a bigger amount of gut bacteria that are beneficial to the body, this may affect the storage of fat in the body. Properly breastfed babies regulates the intake of milk, these babies become better at eating when they are hungry, and they would stop after they have satisfied their hunger, therefore promoting a healthy eating pattern.

Of course, with all the listed points on the great importance of breastfeeding a child, I really do not think it should be taken for granted. When a child is not properly breastfeed, there are some risk factors to be considered.

• Babies who are not given breast milk are often known to develop a range of infectious diseases like; ear infection, respiratory lines and even diarrhea. Infants who have not been breastfed, also stand a great chance of postneonatal infant mortality rate.

• Studies have shown that, most children who do not get adequate breast milk, stand a great chance of experiencing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the first year of living.

• Most children, who are not breastfed, gets sick more usually.
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For different reasons, not all women would be able to go through the natural breastfeeding process, but not to worry, there are other suitable breastfeeding alternatives that could stand in the gap of the natural breastfeeding method.

Bottle Feeding: This is an alternative method to natural breastfeeding method. Although some babies could get really picky about bottle over the breast, and it is not always a very good option if the baby is below 4 weeks old. This option remains an alternative option for working moms.

Syringe Feeding: This method can either be used alone or used alongside with the natural process of breastfeeding. In this case, the syringe could be inserted into the mouth of the child as they cling to the breast.

Nursing Supplementer (SNS system): This option has been discovered to be one of the safest alternative to natural breast milk intake. In this case, a tube is secured to the breast, mostly used by adoptive mothers.

Conclusion.

Breastfeeding is really great for both mother and child, it should be taken seriously, but for the sake of medical conditions, not all women can breastfeed, I will be expatiating more on that in my next post and also highlighting the possible associated solution. Thanks for your time, it is greatly appreciated.

For Further Studies.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bovine-colostrum#what-it-is

https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081104211651/http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/index.cfm?page=519

https://www.healthline.com/health/breastfeeding/11-benefits-of-breastfeeding#takeawa

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5651963/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122534

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Hi, I am Tobi a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. Want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my podcast channel Here and I also have a youtube channel where you can listen and watch any episode for free, do not forget to subscribe and share with friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from members of the community and do well to keep them coming.